This invention relates to a container provided as a flexible bag suitable for containing a liquid, especially a liquid having a relatively high viscosity or a liquid sensitive to the contact with air.
Containers for packaging a liquid called bag-in boxes or bag-in cartons (hereinafter generally called xe2x80x9cbag-in cartonsxe2x80x9d) in which a flexible bag with a pouring outlet is contained in an outer box formed, for example, by a corrugated cardboard or a paperboard are well known. In general, they are formed by using a composite material consisting of, for example, a resin film and paper, and are often used for containing a liquid with a relatively low viscosity such as a beverage or liquid detergent. These containers having a bag each are handled in such a manner that when the contained liquid is taken out of the pouring outlet, air corresponding to the discharged liquid goes into the bag, or they are formed in such a manner that the bag is contracted to allow the contained liquid to be taken out.
A container provided as a bag or a general bag-in carton allows almost all the quantity of the contained liquid to be easily taken out if the liquid has a relatively low viscosity like a beverage or liquid detergent, etc. However, if the contained liquid is a less flowable liquid with a high viscosity such as a printing ink, it can happen that while all the quantity of the contained liquid is discharged, the bag portion near the pouring outlet closes the pouring outlet or the side faces of the bag adhere to each other at a position near the pouring outlet, thereby preventing the stable discharge of the liquid and causing a large quantity of the contained liquid to remain.
To solve the problem, for example, JP6-211273A proposes a bag-in carton having a bag stuck to the inner faces of the carton, in which only a region slightly larger than one half of the bag on the pouring outlet side is stuck and fixed to the inner faces of the carton, and in which when the contained liquid is taken out, the non-fixed portion of the bag moves toward the pouring outlet, and fits in the portion fixed to the inner faces of the carton, so that almost all the quantity of the contained liquid can be taken out.
Furthermore, JP9-150500A proposes a container having a bag-forming container body, a pouring outlet connected to the container body, and an outer box covering the container body, wherein the pouring outlet of the container body is installed at the central bottom of the outer box, and the container body portion around the pouring outlet is bonded to the bottom of the outer box or a support member is provided for preventing the deformation of the container body portion around the pouring outlet, so that almost all the quantity of the contained liquid can be taken out.
Moreover, JP11-165747A proposes a container, in which a bag having a pouring outlet contains a tubular member for preventing the mutual adhesion of the inner faces of the bag when the liquid is sucked, to allow almost all the quantity of the contained liquid to be taken out.
Furthermore, JP11-301693A proposes a container in which a pouring outlet is provided at an end of a bag formed by a flexible resin film, and in which sheets are stuck to the former half of the bag on the pouring outlet side, so that the latter half of the bag can be housed in the former half as the contained liquid is taken out, thereby ensuring that almost all the quantity of the contained liquid can be taken out.
In the conventional methods, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a bag 1xe2x80x2 is housed in a carton 5xe2x80x2 and the side faces of the bag are bonded to the inner faces of the carton 5xe2x80x2 by an adhesive 3xe2x80x2 in the region of an almost one half on the pouring outlet 2 side. Therefore, since the bag is folded and shortened as the contained liquid is taken out, the container can conveniently be discarded or separated into the bag 1xe2x80x2 and the carton 5xe2x80x2 for sorted discharge. However, anyway, the length of the bag 1xe2x80x2 can be decreased to only about one half. Furthermore, in the case where the bag 1xe2x80x2 is long, the bag 1xe2x80x2 is not always smoothly folded.
The object of this invention is to solve the problem of the above conventional flexible containers, by providing a flexible liquid container in which especially the length of the container after use becomes smaller than one half of that before use.
According to this invention, the above object can be achieved by a liquid container, which comprises a container body provided as an elongated flexible bag having a closed end face at an end thereof, a pouring outlet formed at the closed end face of the container body, and a support means for preventing deformation of a side face of the container body in its front portion adjacent to the closed end face, whereby a rear portion of the container body which is not reinforced by the support means is housed into the front portion as the contained liquid is discharged, in which said liquid container further comprises a stopper which is disposed on the side face of the rear portion of the container body for engaging with the front portion of the container body, whereby after the stopper has been engaged with the front portion, portion of the rear portion in front of the stopper is prevented from further housed into the front portion.
The support means can be a member disposed in the container body for reinforcing the container body with a form like a funnel narrowed at the pouring outlet, or an adhesive that bonds the side walls of the container body in the front portion adjacent to the end face to the outer box covering the container body.
In the above support means, xe2x80x9ca form like a funnelxe2x80x9d generally means a form in which one end is widely opened while the other end is narrowed like a small hole, and is not limited to a form coaxial from one end to the other end as observed with experimental or cooking instruments, but can also be eccentric from one end to the other end as described in the following examples. Furthermore, it is not required that the support member per se is formed like a funnel, as far as the flexible bag is reinforced with a form like a funnel. For the particular constitution of the funnel-like support member, see the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-10850 and corresponding applications filed in other counties, if necessary.
In this invention, when one stopper is provided, the container body is folded at three positions after use. However, this invention is not limited to this constitution, and a plurality of stoppers spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of the container body can also be disposed on the side face of the container body in the rear portion thereof, so that it can be folded at five or more positions. In the case where one stopper is provided, if the ratio of the lengths in the longitudinal direction of the container, of the front portion, the portion in front of the stopper in the rear portion and the portion behind the stopper in the rear portion is 1:2 or less:1, it can be prevented that the pouring outlet is closed by the container body folded in the front portion. In this case, the pouring outlet is not required to be provided with an additional closing preventing means.
Thus, according to this invention, as the contained liquid is taken out, the rear portion of the container body is folded at the position of the stopper and housed into the front portion of the container body. So, after use, the container body becomes short in length and less bulky, and thus it can be conveniently discharged as a waste. Even in the case where the length of the container body is long, since it can be reliably folded at the stopper position, the container can be smoothly folded, allowing almost all the quantity of the contained liquid to be taken out.
In this invention, the form of the container body is not especially limited as far as it is an elongated bag, but generally it is a cylindrical, quadrangular or polygonal bag, and it is convenient if a pouring outlet is formed at one of the closed end faces of the bag.